ssmitty

THE RAMS ARE ON THE CLOCK
Posted by Mike Florio on April 22, 2008, 12:59 p.m.
The St. Louis Rams are now free to negotiate with any incoming rookie. Except left tackle Jake Long. Because, according to Jay Glazer of FOXSports.com, Long has agreed to terms with the Miami Dolphins to become the No. 1 overall pick in the draft.

It’s a five-year deal, which might be one of the major concessions that the Dolphins had to make in order to hold down the total money to be paid to Long. Typically, the No. 1 overall pick signs a six-year deal.

Glazer says that Long is already in the building, for a press conference that apparently will start at 1:45 p.m. EDT.

There are many details to be discovered about this one, including whether linebacker/defensive end Vernon Gholston ever had a chance to take less than the amount that was accepted by Long. Since Long and Gholston are represented by the same firm, any efforts to leverage one player against the other likely never materialized — even though it would have been in Gholston’s best interests for a reverse bidding war to occur.

As it now stands, Gholston could slide out of the top five, and he’ll earn far less money than if he’d been the No. 1 overall pick.

For those of you who still don’t realize the extent of the conflict of interest that CAA had on this issue, think of it this way. Gholston’s agent should have been calling the Dolphins every five minutes, pimping his client and suggesting that he’d consider doing something less than Long’s deal in order to be the No. 1 overall pick. In turn, Long’s agent should have then been required to scramble in order to keep the Fins focused on his client.

But since both men are represented by the same agency, it most likely never happened. And, as we suspected, Gholston is the one who has gotten screwed.